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- Jul 28, 2015
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Hi all... please forgive the very long post.... I just want you to know where we've been and what we've tried. I need help!!
I have an 8 year old long hair calico - her name is Tootie. Her 3 mates are 6-7 years old and they have all been together since they were babies. She raised the next two who are about 9 mos younger than her and the 4th little guy showed up about 6 mos after that. For the last 5 years we have been in a very large home and their 4 litterboxes were out in the garage (they are all totally indoor cats).
This cat has not had hair on her belly for a couple years. We noticed that there were wet spots when cleaning the boxes, but she at one point in time weighed over 15 pounds and our baby boy kitty weighs in around 20 lbs. We just figured our litter boxes weren't always big enough for their hineys.
Now in December we had a major life change. My husband decided that he didn't want to be a family anymore, so we have relocated. There is no longer a husband and we didn't bring the 2 dogs. Now these cats have never had a major issue with each other and none of them particularly liked the dogs but they didn't hate them. Lets just say they didn't snuggle. The cats however do snuggle. Tootie likes the chubby boy, but you can find them all in a furpile at some point every day.
Once we got into this tiny little house I noticed straight away that there was an issue. She was spraying all over my brand new dressers. I also noticed that her puddles often were tinted red.
I snatched her up and took her to the vet. My vet did a few stupid things totaling $500 and then he retired right in the middle of her "treatment". So I went to the new vet that was buying him out. The new vet started over and said "I have no idea why he would do that - we need to do this".... So we start over. Literally over $2000 later (now keep in mind, I am getting divorced and don't have a real job yet because I've been married to a man that wouldn't let me work) I have a cat that is "stone free" - thank you surgery.
Fast forward 8 weeks to today. Over the last 8 weeks, I have tried every kind of litter box you can imagine except a dome one. I have tried clay littler, pine litter, paper litter, potting soil (vet recommended that), and the infamous cat attract litter in the pretty red bag. This morning she was peeing on the bathroom door facing the litterbox. She is at least now peeing on the tile floor most of the time.
Yes she could be angry about the change in living circumstances but I can't fix that. She's not aggressive to the other cats or anyone else. My brother did move in with me, but that was 4 weeks ago and all this was still occurring then and her behavior has not changed in the last 4 weeks.
Now she does vertical pee. I have seen things that says this is spraying. I don't know. I have NEVER seen her pee squatting - ever. Even when she was in the litter box - she vertical peed. We actually use a very tall box so that when she does pee, it doesn't go on the floor (the box isn't the issue - there is a low box with the same litter next to it).
I currently have 3 litter boxes in my house. I seriously cannot put any more boxes in my house without making my landlord angry. I'm nearly positive that isn't the problem tho. I have tried just about every box/litter combination that I can. Right now I am using the red bag cat attract as well as the long hair stuff also by him and then feline pine (which they have had 1 litter box of since we rescued them all).
The vet has ruled out any issues (although he does want me to bring her back for a $150 office visit / urinary ph retest)... He is not going to provide me with any prescription medications. He did however say that he would help me locate a college "cat psychologist".
Oh - the hair on her belly has begun to grow back since her surgery. She's not obsessively licking anymore! And we do have a major flea problem. I have been here since March. The cats have always been on prevention - we did not have a flea problem at our old house. Everyone was on prevention and Orkin came every 2 mos to spray inside and out. The previous renters had dogs and apparently fleas. I swear every day the problem gets worse. Just yesterday I covered my house with diatomaceous earth. Like all of it. I covered the cats as well. Yes its food grade and everything I've read said that it was safe as long as we didn't breath the dust. Luckily I inherited the leather furniture instead of the cloth stuff. I don't think the fleas are an issue - but I'm putting it all out there.
Lastly I did try putting her in a crate to "retrain" her to the litterbox. When I came home the litter box was tumped over and she had poo all stuck in her fur. I'll do this again if someone tells me how properly - but I'm not looking forward to combing that out again! That "retraining" lasted about 8 hours.
So - thats it - I think. Please help!!
I have an 8 year old long hair calico - her name is Tootie. Her 3 mates are 6-7 years old and they have all been together since they were babies. She raised the next two who are about 9 mos younger than her and the 4th little guy showed up about 6 mos after that. For the last 5 years we have been in a very large home and their 4 litterboxes were out in the garage (they are all totally indoor cats).
This cat has not had hair on her belly for a couple years. We noticed that there were wet spots when cleaning the boxes, but she at one point in time weighed over 15 pounds and our baby boy kitty weighs in around 20 lbs. We just figured our litter boxes weren't always big enough for their hineys.
Now in December we had a major life change. My husband decided that he didn't want to be a family anymore, so we have relocated. There is no longer a husband and we didn't bring the 2 dogs. Now these cats have never had a major issue with each other and none of them particularly liked the dogs but they didn't hate them. Lets just say they didn't snuggle. The cats however do snuggle. Tootie likes the chubby boy, but you can find them all in a furpile at some point every day.
Once we got into this tiny little house I noticed straight away that there was an issue. She was spraying all over my brand new dressers. I also noticed that her puddles often were tinted red.
I snatched her up and took her to the vet. My vet did a few stupid things totaling $500 and then he retired right in the middle of her "treatment". So I went to the new vet that was buying him out. The new vet started over and said "I have no idea why he would do that - we need to do this".... So we start over. Literally over $2000 later (now keep in mind, I am getting divorced and don't have a real job yet because I've been married to a man that wouldn't let me work) I have a cat that is "stone free" - thank you surgery.
Fast forward 8 weeks to today. Over the last 8 weeks, I have tried every kind of litter box you can imagine except a dome one. I have tried clay littler, pine litter, paper litter, potting soil (vet recommended that), and the infamous cat attract litter in the pretty red bag. This morning she was peeing on the bathroom door facing the litterbox. She is at least now peeing on the tile floor most of the time.
Yes she could be angry about the change in living circumstances but I can't fix that. She's not aggressive to the other cats or anyone else. My brother did move in with me, but that was 4 weeks ago and all this was still occurring then and her behavior has not changed in the last 4 weeks.
Now she does vertical pee. I have seen things that says this is spraying. I don't know. I have NEVER seen her pee squatting - ever. Even when she was in the litter box - she vertical peed. We actually use a very tall box so that when she does pee, it doesn't go on the floor (the box isn't the issue - there is a low box with the same litter next to it).
I currently have 3 litter boxes in my house. I seriously cannot put any more boxes in my house without making my landlord angry. I'm nearly positive that isn't the problem tho. I have tried just about every box/litter combination that I can. Right now I am using the red bag cat attract as well as the long hair stuff also by him and then feline pine (which they have had 1 litter box of since we rescued them all).
The vet has ruled out any issues (although he does want me to bring her back for a $150 office visit / urinary ph retest)... He is not going to provide me with any prescription medications. He did however say that he would help me locate a college "cat psychologist".
Oh - the hair on her belly has begun to grow back since her surgery. She's not obsessively licking anymore! And we do have a major flea problem. I have been here since March. The cats have always been on prevention - we did not have a flea problem at our old house. Everyone was on prevention and Orkin came every 2 mos to spray inside and out. The previous renters had dogs and apparently fleas. I swear every day the problem gets worse. Just yesterday I covered my house with diatomaceous earth. Like all of it. I covered the cats as well. Yes its food grade and everything I've read said that it was safe as long as we didn't breath the dust. Luckily I inherited the leather furniture instead of the cloth stuff. I don't think the fleas are an issue - but I'm putting it all out there.
Lastly I did try putting her in a crate to "retrain" her to the litterbox. When I came home the litter box was tumped over and she had poo all stuck in her fur. I'll do this again if someone tells me how properly - but I'm not looking forward to combing that out again! That "retraining" lasted about 8 hours.
So - thats it - I think. Please help!!